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Strikingly tall skeletons uncovered in the Ecuador and Peru Amazon region are undergoing examination in Germany, according to a research team headed by British anthropologist Russell Dement. Will these remains prove that a race of tall people existed hundreds of years ago deep in the Amazonian rainforest?

According to a Cuenca news site, since 2013 the team has found half a dozen human skeletons dating to the early 1400s and the mid-1500s which measure between seven and eight feet (213 to 243 centimeters) in height.

Dement said,

“We are very early in our research and I am only able to provide a general overview of what we have found. I don’t want to make claims based on speculation since our work is ongoing. Because of the size of the skeletons, this has both anthropological and medical implications,” reports Cuenca Highlife.

Skeletal Remains in Ecuador and Peru

In late 2013 Dement received word that a skeleton had been uncovered by a Shuar local, approximately 70 miles (112 kilometers) from Cuenca, in Loja Province, Ecuador. Dement traveled to the site and recovered a rib cage and skull of a female which had been exposed by flooding. The bones were thought to date to 600 years ago. The rest of the skeleton was located and, once assembled, reportedly measured seven feet, four inches (223.5 centimeters) in height.

This prompted the formation of a research team including four researchers from Freie Universität in Germany, and the assistance of Shuar locals. Funding was provided by the university for excavation and investigation.

Recognizing it is a controversial area of research, Dement noted “Even though I had been working with Freie for many years, I was concerned that they might not give a grant for someone looking for giants. To outsiders, especially scientists, I understand this sounds a little hair-brained. […]

“Because of the sensational nature of this, we have to be extremely diligent in our research since it will be met with a great deal of skepticism,” he said.

Within six months of excavations and mapping at two different sites: the one outside of Cuenca, and another settlement dating to about 1550, approximately 20 miles (32 kilometers) away on the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border, the team had found five more tall skeletons, as well as artifacts. It is believed by Dement and colleagues that the tribe at the second site had been at the settlement for at least 150 years.

The three complete skeletons and two partial skeletons had no disfiguration and suggested they were relatively healthy.

Dement said,

“The skeletons show no signs of diseases such as the hormonal growth problems that are common in most cases of gigantism. In all the skeletons, the joints seemed healthy and lung cavity appeared large. One of the skeletons that we have dated was of a female who was about 60 when she died, much older than typical cases of gigantism,” reports Cuenca Highlife.

The burials were elaborate. Bodies were wrapped in leaves and buried in thick clay. This sealed the skeletons and protected against water intrusion, leaving the remains in fairly good condition.

Legends Come to Life

It is reported that Dement had previously studied Amazon indigenous communities for more than two decades and had heard the legends of “very tall, pale-skinned people who used to live nearby,” he said. Community elders described them to Dement as a race of large, peaceful Amazonians who were welcomed by the indigenous Shuar and Achuar people, however, the locals also believed these people belonged to the ‘spirit world’ and were purely mythical.

Real-Life Giants

Since the announcement of this discovery several reports have vastly exaggerated the dimensions of the finds, with seven feet being reported as seven meters (making them 23 feet tall). The bones have also been erroneously connected with hoax photos, as well as a reconstruction of an “Ecuador giant”, which was in fact a fake skeleton for a now-closed theme park in Switzerland.

These false reports should not detract from the actual discovery of seven-to-eight-feet skeletal remains in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian rainforest, which are being scientifically studied. Such skeletons, while seeming to fit the ancient legends of a mythical race, are not unheard of or unproven in scientific literature.

Other such cases of extremely tall humans (or “giants”) can easily be referenced, such as Robert Wadlow, known as the “Alton Giant”, cited as the tallest person in recorded history. Wadlow was born in Alton, Illinois, USA in 1918, and at his death was eight feet, eleven inches (2.72 meters) tall.

Robert Pershing Wadlow, tallest person in recorded history, was of a giant height due to hyperplasia of his pituitary gland. (Creative Commons Fair Use )

Another of the many cases of modern gigantism include that of Charles Byrne (1761-1783), known as “The Irish Giant,” whose skeleton is now on display at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London. Measurements of his skeleton measured him at approximately seven feet, seven inches (2.31 meters) tall.

Sketch depicting skeletons of a male giant and a female dwarf, displayed at the Royal College of Surgeons. ( Wikimedia Commons )

Earlier this year archaeologists in Bulgaria discovered the remains of what they have described as a “huge skeleton” in downtown Varna , a city on the shores of the Black Sea whose rich culture and civilizations spans some 7,000 years. The size of the bones were said to be “impressive” and that they belonged to “a very tall man”.

As such cases exist in history, it stands to reason there were cases of individuals or even communities of people who were seen as “giants” to the ancients.

Results of the reported Freie University research are to be published a year from now according to Dement, who is said to be examining DNA samples from the Shuar communities near the excavation site to see if they connect with the skeletal remains from the ancient settlement.

Hopefully the published information will shed light on the people who lived in the Amazonian rainforest hundreds of years ago, and how they might have interacted with the Shuar and Achuar peoples, possibly sparking myths and beliefs which were passed down for generations, resulting in the legend of the Ecuadorian giants.

Comments

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with regret,
James

Responding to "JA" ---
First of all, these "people in the cloud forests" that you describe
are similar to what one elderly explorer I know who has spent
the last 65 years looking for Valverde's gold (which Atahualpa,
the last king of the Incans hid from the greed of conquisadors
before they executed him) has encountered. Supposedly, deep
in the "cordillera de Los Llanganates," which is so inhospitable
that my friend had to commission helicopters to get in and
out of there, such beings exist.

When I asked him if he was serious, he said, "Yes . . . as
fantastical as it sounds, such beings exist. I, and members of
my crew, have seen them . . . they are clearly indigenous,
dark, extremely tall, and I frequently saw them carrying gold.
They clearly have some kind of ability to use thought to
travel interdimensionally, because you will see them one
minute, they will acknowledge your presence . . . and then
disappear. Moreover, they communicate telepathically and
clearly do not need language. They have abilities that we
apparently lost long ago." Some of my friend's exploits are
covered in Mark Honigsbaum's book, "Valverde's Gold."
( ISBN : 0374191700 ).

It isn't a fictitious story. These things have actually happened.

As for "the structures" . . . let me put it to you this way.
When WE build a normal home, it has what? An 8 foot
ceiling? Tools, utensils, and artifacts that look like they
would accommodate humanoids that are roughly
five to six feet tall . . . right? If you encountered structures
with 15 foot high ceilings and had utensils of a size that
were made to accommodate humanoids twice our size . . .
what would you think?

Please elaborate about the structures on your friends properties that could have only been built by 12 foot or higher giants... this is very interesting.

On another note, my grandfather, may he rest in peace - spoke about these people in the cloud forests and actually SAW what most believe to be a remnant of this race of people. They were tall, blond hair, blue eyes and paid in gold nuggets whenever they had to buy supplies in the nearby villages. When tracked down, they would disappear into the dense rainforest, just as easy as they appeared.

This isn't news.
There is a woman in Loja who keeps a private museum of
giant bones -- some much larger than is being reported in this
article. And who says locals think giants are "mythical"?
Nonsense. Nobody who has looked into this in Loja Province,
which is just to the south of me, thinks that. Everybody
knows that giants lived here in large numbers. Everybody
knows that it is orthodox archeology that is pure "myth."
(A la Michael Cremo's "Forbidden Archeology.").
Everybody knows that "convention" lies about this, just
as it does in every other scientific discipline ( See :
"The Ascendency of the Scientific Dictatorship" by
Phillip Darrell Collins). Science is not about the quest for
impartial knowledge. It is the quest for consensus within
a privileged, professional, authoritative elite.

Even the photo of the Shuari is misleading. It a photo of
"Tzama," whose lodge is outside of Palora in Provincia de
Morona Santiago near Rio Pastaza--- way to the north of Loja,
and he has no connection to any of this, or to the Shuar groups
that live in or near Loja. (I stayed at Tzama's lodge last
December, so I know him personally).

Moreover, I have friends here in Ecuador who have structures
on their land that could ONLY have been built by men who
were a minimum of 12 feet in stature.

I don't know who these Germans are, but they should
just go home and leave us Ecuadoreans alone.
These news reports aren't just disinformation.
They're embarrassing -- and to people here who
understand the true history of the land, just
ridiculous . . . not because of what they disclose,
but because of what they omit.

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